strictlysupreme Chapter 170 Come to the door
Chapter 170 Come to the door
Zisu: "No, in a few months, once my younger brother has fully adapted to life at the academy and is a bit more sensible, I'll travel back and forth between the two places. I'll stay at Wuliping for half a month and at the General's Mansion for the other half!"
Fang Qiong said happily, "That's good. Now I can rest assured!" She believed her elder brother would be very happy to know. Her elder brother had been worried that Zisu would return to the capital and stay there for a long time, making it difficult to see her again in the future.
Zisu: "You need to be stronger, more decisive, and more assertive. I actually know your father quite well; he's not heartless towards his children. In the past, your mother was too weak. If she had been a little more assertive, your father wouldn't have dared to treat her like this. You see, your mother was his legal wife. If she had been more assertive, your father would have worried that an imperial censor would have impeached him for abusing his concubine and killing his wife."
However, your mother herself did nothing, willingly allowing herself to be bullied by the concubine, and constantly covering for your father. Therefore, even if others wanted to help your mother, they were powerless! In the past, if it weren't for protecting Yunduo and Rufeng, your mother would probably have been trampled underfoot by the concubine long ago!
Fang Qiong: "Sister Zisu is right. On the way back, I told my elder brother that I wanted to go back to the Marquis's mansion! I'll go back first and pave the way for Mother!"
Zisu: "After you go back, don't just go against your father. Try to win his favor and get along with him! In the Marquis's mansion, your father is the head of the family. If you get along well with him and he cherishes you, you've already won half the battle. A concubine is, after all, a woman, and to a man, women are like clothes. However, children are his own flesh and blood. As long as this man isn't senile, children will always be more important than concubines!"
Fang Qiong couldn't help but sigh: "But I always feel that in my father's eyes and heart, I am indeed not as important as his concubines!"
Zisu: "That just means you lack communication with your father. As long as you work hard to improve your relationship with him and get along well with him, I believe that your status in your father's heart will gradually surpass that of the concubine! In that case, you will have succeeded more than halfway!"
Fang Qiong: "Sigh, but it's so hard for me to bow down to my father!"
Zisu: "You must remember this saying: a true man can bend and stretch, and this applies to you and me as well! Besides, the other party is, after all, your biological father, not some irreconcilable enemy. There's nothing shameful about humbling yourself and trying to please your father! Listen to me, consider it giving your father a chance, and also giving yourself a chance. If you've tried your best and your father still hasn't changed, then you can make other plans, and you won't have too many regrets in this life!"
Fang Qiong finally nodded vigorously: "Okay, let's give him a chance, and also give myself a chance. I'll listen to my sister and work hard!"
To be honest, she also really wanted to experience what it felt like to be loved by her father. If she tried her best and her father really changed his mind, she would be very happy.
Just then, Fang Heng arrived.
Zisu greeted him with a smile, "Lord Fang, please have a seat." She then called to Sister Shuisheng, "Sister Shuisheng, welcome our distinguished guest! Bring us another pot of hot tea!"
"Okay, I'm coming!" Sister Shuisheng replied crisply.
Zisu then explained to Fang Heng, "Sister-in-law Shuisheng is a cook, and she's from Wuliping."
Fang Heng: "You should hire a cook, otherwise you'll be exhausted. If you ask me, you should also have a maid or a matron by your side. Don't do everything yourself, or you'll wear yourself out. By the way, what happened to your previous maids?"
Zisu: "I don't do any physical labor, just housework, it's fine. It's hard to find a suitable maid or servant. Xiangli is busy with the sightseeing garden now, so I'll leave the crabapple and cherry blossoms for my mother!"
Fang Heng then said with concern, "Why don't you find some orphans, train them properly for a few years, and they'll be capable of taking on important responsibilities!"
Zisu: "Yes, that's exactly what I was planning to do. I've already handed it over to Xiangli and Luo Jianming to take charge of!"
Fang Heng: "How about this, I'll send you a few over in a few days. There are quite a few little beggars in the county town now, what do you think?"
Zisu: "Alright, thank you then, sir! I see that Sister Qiong'er is also short of manpower, why don't you keep a few of them and train them properly?"
Fang Qiong: "My mother looked down on the little beggar and said she wanted to buy some specially trained maids from the matchmaker. Alas, I didn't actually like most of those people I bought from the matchmaker."
Zisu: "How about this, I'll take in a few more orphans, and once they're trained, I'll send two over to you. I plan to teach those orphans literature and martial arts, eliminating 30% every month, and another batch every three months. The ones that remain will be well-trained. I'll send them to you again after a year. Do you want them?"
Fang Qiong: "A maid who is both literate and skilled in martial arts? Great, I want her! Thank you so much, Sister Zisu!"
Zisu: "No need to be so polite. We're good friends, helping each other out is only natural!"
Fang Heng silently looked at Zisu, his heart filled with emotion. "Sigh, such a good girl. If only my mother hadn't interfered back then. It's rare for Qiong'er to be so close and confide in a stranger, and Zisu is indeed very good to Qiong'er."
Mother, why do you torment your son like this? Do you know how much I've suffered since you and Zisu fell out? All those ordinary women you've dated are utterly worthless compared to Zisu!
How could I be willing to spend my life with women like that? They'd all be similar to Zisu, wouldn't they? Perhaps I'll never meet a woman who can move my heart in this lifetime. Oh well, at least I have Yunduo and Rufeng. Even if I never marry again, my family line will never end.
******
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed, and Prince Duan's wound had finally healed. The Emperor specially sent someone to Wuliping to bring him back to the capital, and Zisu also went back to the capital with him.
She missed her parents terribly after not seeing them for so long. With the Emperor sending a hundred Imperial Guards, her safety on the journey was assured. She had to return to the capital; she couldn't take any of the guards from Xiaoshitan with her, otherwise she would worry about her two younger brothers again.
When she returned to the General's Mansion, Madam Yu was overjoyed and ordered the kitchen to prepare many of her favorite dishes and snacks.
Just as Zisu finished lunch, Haitang came to report: "Madam, Miss, someone has come looking for you. They say it's the young master's mother!"
Yu Han's birth mother? The one who abandoned her husband and child, Madam Meng?!
Madam Yu was furious: "Don't let her in! Chase her out with a broom!"
Upon hearing this, Haitang was taken aback: "Madam, that's the young master's birth mother, isn't that inappropriate?"
Zisu: "There's nothing wrong with it. Find me a broom and I'll go myself!" Madam Yu is a gentle and elegant woman; she can't bring herself to use a broom to chase people away.
Haitang quickly brought over two brooms: "Miss, I'll go with you!"
"Alright, wait a moment, don't hold back!" Zisu said.
Haitang: "I understand, I will definitely not show any mercy!"
Zisu: "Where is that woman now?"
Haitang: "Right at the main gate, the gatekeeper wouldn't let her in!"
Zisu: "Very good. Give the order later to give the gatekeeper on duty today an extra month's pay!"
Haitang: "Yes, miss, I've got it."
The two strode quickly to the front door.
Madam Meng was arguing with the gatekeeper: "You snobbish, contemptible man! I am the aunt of Princess Yulin, and you won't let me in! When I see the princess, I'll sell you off far away!"
Zisu immediately shouted, "Where did this crazy woman come from? This princess has no aunt. This princess's aunt died long ago!"
Madam Meng quickly exclaimed, "Oh my, you must be Zisu! It's been so many years, do you still recognize me? I'm your aunt! I'm Yu Han's biological mother. You were ten years old that year, you should recognize me, I haven't changed much!"
Zisu snorted coldly: "I don't know you. Yu Han's biological mother is dead! Her conscience has been eaten by dogs! You'd better leave now. This is the General of the Nation's Mansion. No idlers are allowed to linger around here! Otherwise, we'll arrest you and put you in jail!"
With that, Zisu handed the broom to the gatekeeper: "Take this broom and sweep her feet hard to drive her away! If she still doesn't listen, then go ahead and hit her with the broom!"
He then explained to the onlookers, "This is a heartless woman. Back then, my uncle was framed by a villain and had to go to Yi County to serve as a magistrate. This woman was afraid of losing her life and also afraid of hardship, so she resolutely divorced my uncle, abandoned her husband and children, and returned to her parents' home. Not long after, she remarried. Now that my uncle has become the Minister of Personnel and lives in a spacious house, she has come to harass me again! It must be because my uncle doesn't want to pay attention to her, so she came to the General's Mansion, thinking that my mother and I are easy to bully and fool!"
The onlookers suddenly realized: "Oh, so that's how it is! Oh my, how shameless! She's already remarried, and she still has the nerve to come to the General's Mansion!"
"Exactly, they're shameless! If it were me, I'd be too ashamed to show my face!"
"Yes, young man, this kind of heartless woman should be beaten away with a broom!"
"Young man" refers to the gatekeeper.
Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper became even more emboldened, brandishing his broom and lashing out at Meng Shi, yelling, "You heartless madwoman! Is the General's Mansion a place for you? Get out of here, or I'll unleash the dogs on you!"
Actually, there are no dogs in the General's Mansion. The gatekeeper was just saying that to scare Madam Meng. Madam Yu is afraid of dogs, so she doesn't keep any at home.
Meng was frightened. In general, if wealthy families kept dogs, they were usually large wolfhounds, which were kept specifically to guard the house.
"I'm leaving, I'm leaving right now!" Madam Meng fled in a disheveled state, but then declared, "I'll be back. I can't stand seeing your mother, and I will never let this go!"
The eldest sister in my memory, who was Zisu's mother, was a very gentle and kind person, easily swayed by others. Whenever Zisu cried or made a fuss, her mother would take pity on her and help her fulfill her wishes.
Meng was very confident about this. If all else failed, she could still make a scene at Wuliping Academy; she had already found out that Yu Han was studying there!
She refused to believe that if she made a scene at the academy, someone as concerned with appearances as Yu Han's grandmother wouldn't submit to her. At that point, Old Madam Yu would surely invite her into her home. Even if she didn't agree to let her return to the Yu family as a daughter-in-law, she would at least give her ten thousand taels of silver. With ten thousand taels, she could live a life of comfort until Yu Han came of age! Once Yu Han was grown up and could earn his own money, she would go find him. He was her own son; he certainly wouldn't have the heart to abandon her!
As Meng fled, she thought about many things, some of them quite wonderful.
However, what she didn't know was that immediately after she fled, Zisu increased the number of guards and instructed them: "From now on, if you see this Meng woman, and I'm home, report it to me immediately. If only Madam is home, don't report it, just drive her away quickly! Oh, and keep a few brooms handy at the gatehouse, ready to use them to beat people up at any time!"
Hitting someone with a broom won't hurt a bad person, but it can humiliate them.